Bengals' Zac Taylor says play calls 'could be better' to help offensive line

One of the big questions heading into this past Sunday's Super Bowl LVI clash between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams was whether or not a lackluster Cincinnati offensive line could do enough to protect second-year quarterback Joe Burrow from a formidable defensive front that included three-time Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald. 

In short, the answer was proven to be an emphatic "no," as Burrow took seven sacks and went down with an MCL sprain in the fourth quarter of what became a 23-20 defeat. 

Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor met with media members Wednesday and accepted some blame for the fact his young signal-caller was sacked a whopping 70 times across regular-season and postseason play.

"We just have to be better as a unit … I think that we'll just look to improve the team any way that we can and not specific to one necessary group," Taylor said, according to Geoff Hobson of the club's website. "The offensive line helped us get to the Super Bowl. They gave us opportunities to go win the Super Bowl. Everything always falls on them statistically, but that's not always the case. 

"There are play calls that could be better to help put them in a better position. There is a lot that plays into all that. They were an offensive line that helped us get to the Super Bowl and gave us opportunities to win and I think they should be commended for that."

For a piece published Wednesday, Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic suggested the Bengals realistically could look to land up to four upgrades for their offensive line this offseason, and Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith notes Cincinnati possesses "plenty of cap space and a full complement of draft picks" to address the weakest portion of the roster between the start of the new league year next month and the upcoming NFL Draft.